Mitsunari Tokugawa
Mitsunari Tokugawa (徳川 光成, Tokugawa Mitsunari) is a fictional character from anime and manga series of Baki the Grappler. He is referred to by the title "Noble Elder" (御老公, Gorōkō) as a sign of respect. Mitsunari is the 13th head of the Tokugawa clan. He is apparently descended from Tokugawa Mitsukuni, also known as "Mito Komon". Personality The tournament runner and owner of the underground arena. While not a fighter himself, he is very knowledgeable about the martial arts and can easily point out several fighting techniques, regardless of whether they are obscure or well-known. He has the final say in each and every one of the battles that take place in his arena. His love for combat and watching bloodshed borders on a sociopathic, or even psychotic degree. While he usually prefers to keep every fight in order, he will sometimes bend the rules if it means amplifying the fight in some way, even going so far as to threaten one of his own doctors with a knife when they tried to stop the fight between Baki and Jack. He is close personal friends with Doppo Orochi and Igari Kanji, as well as acquaintances (though not exactly friendly) with Yujiro Hanma. Mitsunari is one of the few people to ever outsmart Yujiro. When Yujiro attempted to upset the balance of his tournament, he had his snipers, who he had secretly stationed around the arena, to shoot him with enough tranquilizer to put down a blue whale. This gives him the very rare achievement of being the only person who has ever knocked Yujiro unconscious. While it is unknown if Tokugawa was once a fighter himself in his early days, his odd antics and physical appearance make him more likely to be nothing more than an eccentric billionaire who prefers to watch fights instead of participating in them. It is worthwhile to note that Mitsunari is only interested in the underground fighting, his whole life revolves around it and he doesn't seem to have too much empathy about the most fighters. This characteristic was prominently observed in Baki-Dou series, where he literally abducted and forced Pickle to fight with Musashi Miyamoto, completely neglecting the fact that Pickle is a priceless discovery for the human race and hence should be preserved. Appearance Mitsunari Tokugawa is a very short and slim old man. He has a bald head, as well as grey and slightly bulging eyes. He is always dressed in a special Japanese kimono that the leaders of a certain family are wearing. In the first and second series of anime, his kimono is green, and in the third series is blue and brown. History 'Baki the Grappler' Childhood Saga Tokugawa is shown in a scene where he talks to Kanji Igari, a well-known professional wrestler, at Tokugawa's household. The old man tells the wrestler that it is hard to find really special fighters today, and then Igari starts recounting him about Baki Hanma, a son of "the Strongest Creature on Earth" (Yujiro Hanma). At some point their conversation is interrupted by Shumei Kano, Tokugawa's main bodyguard. Kano snucks from behind to Igari to test the old wrestler's fighting spirit. When the atmosphere between two fighters becomes tense, the old man tries to calm them down and separate them. Eventually, Igari decides to leave, and Tokugawa says goodbye to him. On the same day, Tokugawa has another guest. He is visited by the aforementioned Baki Hanma, who defeated all the bodyguards of the Tokugawa's household (including Shumei Kano) and asks the old man to allow him to take part in fights in the Underground Arena. Tokugawa agrees to his proposal. Underground Arena Saga For the first time in the Underground Arena Saga, Tokugawa is shown when Doppo Orochi and Kiyosumi Katou arrives in the Underground Arena. In this scene Tokugawa is accompanied by two bodyguards, but these characters never shows up again in the series. He goes with Doppo and Katou to the basement of the Tokyo Dome. At first they watch the fight between Ryuukongou and Kouhei Kuzumi and then the fight between Baki Hanma and Kosho Shinogi takes place. Tokugawa tells two guests about Baki, the youngest Underground Arena champion in history. Tokugawa decides that the next opponent of Baki will be Junichi Hanada, a professional wrestler. He is visited by Naito, Cho, Sato, Takada and Kurokawa, traditional martial artists, who wants Tokugawa to change his decision. At some point Hanada comes and Tokugawa's house, and the old man proposes him to face each of the guests to prove his worth. Hanada reluctantly agrees, and then Tokugawa watches how the wrestler beats all his guests. A few days later, it turns out that Tokugawa is changing his decision about another opponent of Baki. Mount Toba, the famous giant of pro wrestling, attacks and defeats Hanada in a battle, and Tokugawa is very excited that Toba will replace Hanada in another arena match. Eventually, after the fight of Baki and Toba, Yujiro Hanma suddenly appears in the arena. He approaches to Tokugawa and tells him that he wants to fight as a participant in the Underground Arena. Ultimately, Tokugawa announces a great clash between Yujiro and Doppo Orochi. Some time later Tokugawa comes up with an idea to add another duel on the day of the fight between Doppo and Yujiro. He invites Baki to his house and tells him that he has found an opponent for him, Kureha Shinogi, Kosho's brother. Tokugawa wants Baki's fight to be the main event right after Doppo's duel. On the day of fight, Tokugawa, excited, visits Doppo in the locker-room and wishes him good luck. Unfortunately, the old man's mood changes with the end of the match, during which Doppo almost loses his life. Tokugawa starts crying and screaming at his subordinates to take Doppo to the Doctor as soon as possible. Eventually Tokugawa calms down when Doppo's life is saved by Kureha Shinogi, who is not only a fighter but also a brilliant doctor. Later, the arena owner comes to watch Baki's match. Maximum Tournament Saga Some time after the events of the previous saga and the recovery of Doppo, Tokugawa decides to organize a great martial arts tournament. He comes to the Shinshinkai dojo to personally inform his friend about it. Then the old man meets many influential people from all over the world to tell them about an upcoming big tournament and the unusual pankration belt (the old martial art from ancient Greece) that will be given to the tournament winner. Tokugawa also selects fighters for the tournament on his own. A scene is shown where he watches a private fight between Kiyosumi Katou and Junichi Hanada. This duel aims to choose one of them as a competitor (Katou wins the fight). When the tournament time comes, Tokugawa, excited, announces the start of a great festival in the Underground Arena. Tokugawa's role in this saga is mainly focused on watching tournament fights, but the old man does not decide to become just a passive spectator. At some point it turns out that he brought a big mountain ape, Yasha-Zaru Jr, to the tournament. Yasha-Zaru Jr appears as an unexpected guest and fights against Kiyosumi Katou. At some point, Yujiro Hanma arrives at the tournament and kills one of the competitors to introduce his companion, Yuu Amanai, to the tournament. Tokugawa comes to Yujiro, asking him not to destroy this festival, which is an old man's life dream. Yujiro agrees and later watches most of the fights in a special seat next to Tokugawa. When Baki is defeated by Zulu, who attacked him by surprise before the official start of the fight and quickly knocked him out, the audience starts protesting, not wanting the fight to end in such an unfair way. Then Tokugawa enters the arena and starts explaining that a real fighter shouldn't lose focus, and losing the fight by an unexpected dirty attack is a permitted thing in the Underground Arena. When Baki wants to leave the arena, he is attacked again by Zulu, and Tokugawa recognizes that their fight is not over yet, letting them continue the match. During the battle between Iron Michael and Chiharu Shiba, Michael's second throws the towel, but the American does not agree with his decision and says he wants to continue the fight. Then Tokugawa enters the arena and starts talking to Michael, who tells him he doesn't want to end the duel yet. Tokugawa resumes the fight, ignoring Michael's second. Ultimately, Chiharu Shiba wins the fight, but due to his injuries he is no longer able to participate in the rest of the tournament and Tokugawa decides to bring in Alexander Gallen, the Russian wrestler, to replace Chiharu in the tournament. When Yujiro Hanma doesn't hold out and starts making a fuss in the tournament during the fight between Doppo Orochi and Yuu Amanai, Tokugawa decides to stop Yujiro. Old man's snipers, hidden among the audience, start shooting to the Ogre with tranquilizer bullets (strong enough to put down a blue whale), and he falls to the ground. Thanks to this, Yujiro is later harmless for some time and Tokugawa can freely enjoy the further part of the tournament. Before the final, Tokugawa makes a big speech in the arena. And when the fight is over and Baki defeats Jack Hanma, Tokugawa goes down to the middle of the arena again and gives the pankration belt to Baki by himself. 'Baki' Most Evil Death Row Convicts Saga Tokugawa comes to Baki's school to tell him about synchronicity, the phenomenon of unexpected coincidences. Baki is surprised by the old man's story and Tokugawa informs him that five escaped convicts from different parts of the world are headed for Tokyo at the same time and each of them is looking for "defeat". Later Kanji Igari introduces Tokugawa to Tateoka, a young judoka who wants to take part in the fights of the Underground Arena. The three of them talk about it in a restaurant, when suddenly a Russian named Sikorsky, one of the five convicts, appears and attacks the judoka. When Tateoka is brutally defeated, Igari challenges Sikorsky, but also loses. Tokugawa recognizes who Sikorsky is and wants to show him the Underground Arena. When they arrives at the place, it turns out that the other convicts have also arrived at the arena. Surprised Tokugawa asks what brought them here and everyone answers something different. Soon, Doppo Orochi, Kaoru Hanayama, Goki Shibukawa, Kaioh Retsu and Baki Hanma also arrives in the Underground Arena. Tokugawa tells convicts that his competitors are real fighters whose martial arts are not based on sport. Then the old man proposes a kind of "war" between both sides, and the two teams agree. When Baki loses his fight against Ryuukou Yanagi, the five main fighters meets Tokugawa at his home. The owner of the arena is seriously disappointed by the failure of the champion and completely desperate. At some point, the conversation is interrupted by Dorian, one of the convicts, who unexpectedly comes to Tokugawa's house and tries to make a big fuss. Eventually, the situation ends with Dorian throwing a grenade and causing an explosion at the old man's household, but fortunately nobody dies. Abilities He never does any fighting of his own, but is very knowledgeable in the world of martial arts and enjoys spectating battles. He is the tournament runner and owner of the underground arena, where many big fights of the series are held. Despite physically useless, Tokugawa is very rich and has extensive authority in Japan and even to abroad, which makes him dangerous in his own right. Techniques *Slap Gallery Tokugawa ova.png|Mitsunari Tokugawa in the OVA. MitsunariTokugawa.png|Mitsunari Tokugawa in the first season. Baki new ova28.jpg|Mitsunari Tokugawa in the OAD. Tokugawa render 2018.png|Mitsunari Tokugawa 3rd season render. Tokugawa 2018 e e.png|Mitsunari Tokugawa in the third season. Trivia *His namesake is clearly based on Ieyasu Tokugawa and Mitsunari Ishida, the opposing commanders at the Battle of Sekigahara. Category:Characters Category:Male Category:Japanese characters